Gas generator



G. M. DEMING GAS GENERATOR Aug. 7, 1934.

Filed March 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR A'ITORNE Aug. 7, 1934. G. M. DEMI@ 1,969,121

GAS GENERATOR Filed March 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 vl ZNVENTOR gni/JM ATTORN EY Aug- 7, 1934 G. M. DEMING 1,969,121

GAS GENERATOR Filed March 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Aug 7, 1934 G. M. DEMING I 1,969,121

" GAS GENERATOR' Filed March 22, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Ejgk.

y Y INVENTQR @ww ATToRNEY Patented Aug. 7, 1934V PATENT OFFICE GAS GENERATOR George M. Deming, East Orange, N. J., assignor to Air Reduction Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 22, 1932, Se'rial No. 600,431

21 Claims.

. 'I'his invention relates to gas generators in which solid material is fed and dropped into a body of liquid, by reaction with which gas is generated. Specifically, the invention relates to acetylene generators.

Among the objects and advantages of the invention are the following: ease and economy of manufacture; sensitiveness of action; generation and supply of gas at remarkably even pressure,

and this notwithstanding that the generator may be required to deliver anything from extremely low to very high flows, depending upon the gas consumption; reliability and ruggedness, so that the generator can operate satisfactorily practically without limit, its sturdiness being suflicient, also, to withstand use in the field, moving about, or other rough usage; compactness; simplification of piping and ease in assembling; removability of the carbide hopper without breaking 2o piping connections or disturbing the mechanism; freedom of the feed mechanism from clogging or becoming fouled; and the provision of a pressure regulating device which can be manually operated to lock the feed in such a way that stuffingboxes are not required and the adjusting screw need not be laboriously unscrewed.

These and other advantages are secured by matters of construction, relation and combination which can best be understood from the description and illustration of a concrete embodiment of the features of the invention, contained in the body of the specification and in the drawms.

'I'he generator is of the kind having an agitated feed device at the discharge opening of the hopper. The agitated feed element may be of various types.. In the embodiment shown in this application it is a valve plate spaced below the spout of the hopper, but this is not to be taken as limiting. As disclosed in my copending application'Serial No. 600,434, the spout may be agitated. For many of the purposes of the invention the feed device may be agitated by any suitable gas-operated motor. Various types of such motors or actuating devices are known. One of these involves the use of a bell in a hydraulic seal pot, the generated gas being delivered into and beneath the top of the bell, so as to lift the bell and simultaneously depress lthe liquid, until the gas can break under the lower edge and then pass upward outside the bell to an exit.

I have devised, and hereinafter claim, an agitator having a different mode of operation, which produces vigorous agitation at the feed valve and prevents any possibility of choking of the carbide.

In the former hydraulic bell agitators, the bell fell when the gas broke the seal, in consequence of which each escape of gas was soon terminated.

In my agitator, the bell is depressed, not lifted, by

the generated Vgas pressure, and the offtake for the 30 gas is from the inside of the bell. When the water seal is broken, the bell rises. The result is a much more prolonged flow at each stroke of the bell, a longer and more effective stroke, and

a forcible agitation of the feed device.

`In addition to the matters mentioned in the foregoing outline, various other novel and valuable features will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof:

Fig. 1 is'a fragmentary vertical section through the upper part of a generator embodying the features of the invention:

Fig. 2 is a. horizontal section on the line 2-2 75 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, showing a modification; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Portions only of the body 2 of the generator and of ther carbide hopper A3 are shown. The normal water level in the tank body is marked 4, above this being the gasspace 5.

The upper portion of the body is of truncated conical form, and secured to the top of this inward sloping wall is a ange 6, to which the hopper is detachably secured by bolts 7 passing through the flange 6 and through a ange 8 on the outside of the hopper. The hopper has a sloping bottom 9 containing a broad feed opening 10. Beneath the lip of this opening is a valve or plate 11, the top-of which slopes gently downward from the center. This valve plate is intended to be shifted vertically to regulate the size of the carbide passage between the plate and the lip of the spout or opening.

The construction is one which requires agitation at the mouth of the hopper to cause feeding of the carbide. The invention is not limited to the agitation of one part rather than of another.

In the illustrated embodimentof the invention it is the valve plate l1 which is agitated to cause the carbide to pass from the hopper and to drop into the water in the generating chamber. The valve may belmounted and moved for agitation in specifically different ways. A s shown, the

valve is supported loosely on a stem 12 so as to be oscillated about a vertical axis. This stem has a shank, which is vertically movable in the hub 13 of a spider, and an enlarged pointed head 14, which enters a cavity in the valve and keeps the stem from dropping through the hub.

The arms 15 of the spider are held in a collar 16, which is secured to the hopper bottom and extends downward, surrounding, and spaced from, the feed valve. The spider arms slope acutely downward from the hub to the supporting collar, and their upper edges 17 are-beveled practically to a knife edge. These features keep slaked carbide from accumulating on the spider and eventually interfering 'with the carbide valve. For the same purpose, large clearing holes 18 are made in the collar l16, at and immediately above the several legs of the spider.

A wide splash ring 19 is secured to the top of the body 2 and extends downward in the gas chamber 5 to a point much below the feeding device, but well above the water level, which, as will be understood, is determined by the capacity of the generator. The disposition of the splash ring is such as to leave va substantial free space around the ring, between it and the upwardly and inwardly sloping sides of the body shell. 'Ihis splash ring makes it possible for the generator to undergo rather rough handling while being moved about, without permitting the water to splash upward and strike the vital parts. Surges in the liquid expend themselves against the sloping 'wall of the tank and then against the outside of the splash ring.

An internally threaded connection collar 20 is welded in an opening in the wall of the body 2, near the top, and is preferably extended inwardly of the gas chamber 5 by a nipple 21,

. which projects through an opening in the splash ring 19. On the outside of the generator there is a hollow casting 22, the inner end of which is threaded into the collar 20. 'I'hese provisions constitute a laterally extending gas limb which is in free communication with the gas space of the generator.

The body of the gas limb has a large opening 23 and an adjacent smaller opening 24 in its top. In the bottom of said body there is a large opening 25.

A-diaphragm 26 is clamped between a regulating spring bonnet 27 and a seat around the opening 23, which the diaphragm closes. A regulating spring 28 in this bonnet bears against a diaphragm plate 29, and the pressure of this spring is adjustable, to4 vary the working pressure of the generator, by an adjusting screw 30,

which is threaded through the top of the bonnet to act against a follower 31, against which the upper end of the spring reacts.

A relief valve bonnet 32 made in one piece with y the regulating spring bonnet is disposed over the opening 24. 'I'his relief valve preferably includes a diaphragm 33, which is pressed against a lip by a spring 34 acting on a diaphragmplate. A stem 35 extending from this diaphragm plate through the top of the bonnet enables the relief valve to be opened manually when desired. The space 36 around the lip of the orifice 24 communicates by a passage, not shown, with a vent 37 seen in Fig. 2.

Projections 38 on the under side of the diaphragm 26 bear against a boss 39 on a lever 40. I'his lever extends `through the gas limb 22 into the gas chamber of the generator body. Its inner end 41 underlies the lower end of the valve stem 12, so that small movements of the lever,

controlled by the pressure-responsive regulatorl device, which includes the diaphragm 26 land spring 28, will adjust the distance between the carbide feed valve plate 11 and the orice 10,

and thereby increase or decrease the amount of y sition to the spring 47, and, whenever the pressure in the generator diminishes slightly, it overcomes the spring 47 to a corresponding extent and moves the lever down. allowing the valve l1 to descend slightly so that the feed passage is somewhat enlarged. On the contrary, when the pressure tends to rise, the action of the gas pressure on the dia.- phragm 26 presses the regulating spring 28 back slightly, and this enables the spring 47 to lift the valve, to decrease the size of the feed passage.

It will be noted that the pressure of the regulating spring is applied to the regulating lever 40` at a point between the compensating spring 47 and the fulcrum 45, and that the ball or other freely separable fulcrum is, therefore, held in assembly by the pressure of the regulating spring. This tends to eliminate backlash, which, if it existed, would interfere with the sensitive operation of the feeding mechanism. As a further preventive of backlash, it is desirable to insert rubber plugs 48 in the top of the gas limb casting, in posi-4 tions to bear against the ends of the bifurcation of the lever, over the fulcrums.

The generator can be locked against feeding by holding the valve plate 11 closed against the lip of the opening 10 in the bottom of the hopper. 'I'his is effected by the spring 47 when the diaphragm 26 is relieved of the pressure of the regulating spring `28. Closing the valve in this manner has advantages over positive locking devices. For one thing, it obviates the necessity for a stuffing-box. Again, if a granule of carbide should become lodged between the edge of the lip at the spout of the hopper and the carbide feed valve plate, that will not result in the valve remaining at a separation from the spout, since the granule will gradually become slaked, permitting the spring to press the valve against the spout. With positive locking devices, it is lmpossible for the attendant to know of such a condition, with the result that the valve would sometimes be locked without being fully closed and would stay in that condition. These advantages are not broadly new, but as far as I am aware locking by spring pressure has been secured heretofore by unscrewing the pressure adjusting screw, to relax the pressure of the regulating spring on the pressure-control diaphragm. One

of the features of my invention is that itis not screw 30. The cam has inclined under portions,4

which coact with cam surfaces 55 on top of the bonnet. The construction is such that, by turning the handle 56 of the cam in one direction, the cam is forced to rise and thrusts upward against the overhanging shoulders of the heads 53 of the rods 52. This draws the rods upward, and through the bar 49 lifts or retracts the diaphragm plate 29, against which the lower or inner end of the spring 28 exerts its stress. The pressure of the regulating spring is thus taken ofi.' the lever 49, and the compensating spring 47 closes the carbide feed valve. When the handle 56 is turned in the opposite direction, the regulating spring 28 is un-checked and is ready to resume its action in the operation of the generator. Thus, a quick and easy action suffices to lock and unlock the feed, and theadjustin'g screw 30 does not have to be touched.

The carbide feed valve -11 is agitated by a motor device 59 4which is responsive to the rate of outflow of gas, to the end that the carbide shall be fed faster or more frequently as the consumption of gas increases, and more slowly or less frequently as the consumption decreases. In other words, the feed of carbide is kept substantially proportional to the flow of gas from the generator. As far as various features and combination of the invention are concerned, gas-operated motors of different types may be employed. More specifically, however, the invention relates to a new kind of liquid-seal bell motor. This device will now be described.Y

A pot 63 is fixed to the under side of the gas limb 22, around the opening 25. Water or other sealing liquid 64 is introduced into this pot through a fill-opening, closed by a plug 65. An off-take pipe 66 extends from an opening in the ybottom of the pot to the usual flash-arrester chamber (not shown), from which the gas passes to the service line or'main. A tube 67 is screwed into the opening of the pot and extends upward in the interior, forming an extension of the pipe 66. A bell 68 is suspended in the liquid in the pot. The open upper end of the tube 67, which is the entrance to the gas outlet from the generator, is high enough to be at all times above the liquid inside the bell. The bell is hung by a link 69 on a bell-crank lever 70. The pivot fulcrum 71 of this lever is shown as being 4on the regulating lever, though this is` not important. A spring 72, attached at one end to the bell-crank and at the other end hooked onto the lever 40 or any other convenient place, tends to lift the bell. Naturally, a weight might be substituted for the spring. When the bell rises, the spring moves the feed valve, whereas when the bell is depressed by the gas pressure the action of the bell is transmitted positively to the valve. l

A long rod or link 75 is connected to the bellcrank 70 and extends lengthwise of the regulating lever 40, through the gas`limb 22.y Adjacent its inner end, this link is guided in a slotted block 76 fixed to the regulating lever. The terminal of the agitating rod is disposed in the gas chamber 5 of the generator` body, outside the valve supporting collar 16. A short link 77 is pivotally connected in an eccentric manner to the valve 11. This link passes outward through a hole 78 in the collar 16, by which the said link is supported when the hopper is removed from the generator body, the valve and its link being carried by and .being removed with the hopper.

At this point, attention may be called to the fact that the gas-operated feed motor 59, the gas link 22, and the gas off-take pipe 66, and indeed also the pressure-regulating device 27 and the relief valve 32, are connected to and carried by the body 2 of the generator and not by the removable hoppery 3. In consequence, when the hopper is removed, thel feed motor, and in fact all parts carried by the gas limb, stay -in position and are not disturbed. The piping is considerably simplified, and piping connections do not have to be broken when the hopper is taken off.

In order to realize these advantages, provisions are made so that the feed device or devices connected with the removable hopper are automatically separable from and reconnectible with the mechanism carried by the body of the generator. As far as the regulating lever 40 is concerned, it will be evident that the valve stem 12 will be simply lifted away from the terminal 40 of the lever, when the hopper is lifted off the body, and will be restored to operative relation to the lever when the hopper is replaced. Automatic separation and re-connection of the agitating linkage is provided for by providing the rod 75 and the valve link 77 with elements of a vertically separable connection. The form of such interengaging terminals may be varied. A very simple construction is one in which the inner end of the rod '15 1s bent into a horizontal loop 79, and the outer end of the link 77 is bent into a vertical loop 80. the loop 80 being capable of moving freely into and out of engagement with the loop 79 when the hopper is taken off `and replaced. i

Description of the agitator bell device will now be resumed. In this device, the top of the bell is exposed to the gas pressure in the generator, and is therefore depressed by the pressure of generated gas.` As the gas accumulates inside the generator, the bell is pressed down, and at the same time the sealing liquid is forced down in one limb of the seal. In the form illustrated in Fig. 1, the gas pushes the liquid down in the space between the outside of the bell and the wall of rthe pot 59, and then escapes under the lower edge of the bell into the interior of the bell, rising through the liquid to the top of the bell, whence it finds its exit through the tube 67. The release of the gas into the interior of the bell, on breaking through the seal, equalizes the gas pressure on the bell, and the spring 72 acts to lift it and at the same time to transmit movement to the carbide feed valve. In former bell agitators, the bell has moved downward when the waterseal was broken, and this caused each discharge of gas to be cut short, whereas, in my device, in which the bell is lifted when the seal is broken, the flow of gas is prolonged. The larger the flow of gas at each stroke of the bell, the farther the bell will be moved and the more powerful will be the agitating action. The result is that the action of the bell is in the nature of comparatively long and strong pumping movements, in consequence of which the feed valve is agitated vigorously rather than merely vibrated or joggled. The advantage of the pronounced movement is that it breaks up anyV tendency of the carbide to chokel as it passes downward throughthe spout 10 and outward over the edge of the carbide valve plate 11. Y

'I'he effectiveness of the agitatingaction is increased by the provision of means for confining and flattening the gas bubbles as they pass upward through the sealing liquid after the gas forces its way past the low point of the seal. In the construction of Fig. 1, this is accomplished by placing a bubbler ring inside the skirt of the bell and quite close to it. This ring is preferably secured to the bottom of the pot 59 and extends upward for a substantial distance inside the bell. The bubbles of gas passing upward through the narrow space between the skirt of the bell and the bubbler ring are flattened transversely and elongated vertically, and this reduces the hydrostatic head resisting the upward passage of the gas. The effect is to produce a stronger agitating effect on the ultimate feed device.

A splash ring 86 is fixed to the inside of the bell 68, extending downward and inward around the upstanding off-take tube 67. This ring catches water which would otherwise be entrained by the rising gas and be carried out through the gas outlet. necessitating frequent replenishment of the sealing liquid. The gas passes through a/ port or ports 87 at the top of the splash ring, and is again bailled by a flaring cap or ring 88, which is fixed under the top of the bell and around the top of .the tube 67. This baille extends down below the ports 87, so that the gas is deflected downward, and preferably also outward, before it can enter the tube.

The modified form of bell agitator illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 possesses the same general features as the one that has just been described. The gas does not, however, or at least need not, pass under the edge of the skirt of the bell 68. Instead, this bell has a gas tube 90 which extends downward in the interior of the'bell from an opening in its top, the low point of this tube being the low point of the water-seal. 'I'his tube, after extending downward to near the bottom of the bell, is preferably turned upward, and the upturned limb 91 of the tube is, or may be, fiattened to secure an effect similar to that obtained by placing the bubbler ring 85 close to the inside of the bell in Fig. 1. The open upper or entrance end of the offtake tube 67 is guarded by a hood or baille 92 to prevent loss of sealing liquid. The connection 69*t between the bell and the bellcrank lever 70, and the remainder of the mechanism, may be substantially like the construction that has been described.

The pressure of gas on top of theV bell 68 depresses it, and at the same time the gas moves down in the tube, displacing the sealing liquid. After the gas turns the bend at the bottom of the tube, the seal is broken, and there is a flow of gas from the generating chamber to the gas space beneath the top of the bell, and thence outward through the tube 67 and pipe 66. As in the embodiment of Fig. 1, the bell is lifted when the water seal is broken. The advantages secured by this mode of operation are the same inkind as those that have been explained.

'Ihe operation of the generator has been described in connection with the description of the construction, so that a brief statement will suffice at this point.

'I'he pressure at which the generator operates is determined by the diaphragm 26 and the regu- 'iating spring 28, acting preferably in conjunction with a compensating spring 47. When the pressure tends to increase or decrease, the effect on the lever 40 is to lift or lower the carbide feed valve plate 1i. This decreases or increases the width of the carbide passage,`with consequent correction of the pressure variation, by decreasing or increasing the amount of carbide that will be delivered to the water. The generating pressure can be adjusted by turning the adjusting screw 30 to increase or decrease the pressure of the spring 28 on the diaphragm. To lock or stop the feed, the handle 56 is turned a short distance so as to back-check the regulating spring 28, whereupon the compensating spring 47 acts to close the valve plate against the spout of the hopper. This locking is effected without unscrewing the acusting screw, and when the spring 28 is unchecked by turning the locking handle in the reverse direction, to set the generator in operation, the stress of the regulating spring on the diaphragm 26 is restored at its former value.

The generated gas breaks at intervals through the water seal in the pot 59, then passing' into the interior of the bell 68 or 68, and out through the off-take 67. The pressure in the generating chamber depresses the bell, thereby moving the feed valve and storing up power in the spring 72, and when the seal is broken the bell is lifted and the valve is again moved, the effect being to create a strong agitating action on the valve through the linkage 69, 70, 75, 77.

Numerous other changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A gas generator having, in combination with a hopper, a generating chamber, and a feed device at the mouth of the hopper; means for agitation of said feed device comprising a liquidseal pot, the top of which is in open communication with the gas space of the generating chamber, a bell in said pot connected with said feed device, and awgas outlet beneath the bell so that the bell is depressed by the pressure of generated gas and rises when gas breaks through the seal into the interior of the bell.

2. A gas generator having, in combination with a hopper, a generating chamber, and a feed device at the mouth of the hopper; means for agitation of said feed device comprising a liquidseal pot, the top of which is in open communication with the gas space of the generating chamber, a bell in said pot connected with said feed device, a bubbler ring inside and close to the skirt of the bell, and aA gas outlet beneath the bell.

3. A gas generator having, in combination with a hopper, a generating chamber, and a feed device at the mouth of the hopper; means for agitation of said feed device comprising a liquid-seal pot, the top of which is in open communication with the gas space of the generating chamber, a bell in said pot vconnected with said feed device, means for counterbalancing said bell, and a gas outlet beneath the bell.

4. A gas generator having, in combination with a hopper, a generating chamber, and a feed device at the mouth of the hopper; means for agitation of said feed device comprising a liquid-seal pot, the top of which is in open communication tion of said feed device comprising a liquid-seal pot, the top of which is in open communication with the gas space of the generating chamber, a bell in said pot connected with said feed device, a gas outlet tube, the entrance of which is beneath the top of the bell, and a splash Iring extending from the top of the bell downward around said tube.

6. A gas generator having, in combination with a hopper, a generating chamber, and a feed device at the mouth of the hopper; means for agitation of said feed device comprising a liquid-seal pot, the top of which is in open communication with the gas space of the generating chamber, a bell in said pot connected with said feed device, a gas outletl tube, the entrance of which is beneath the top of the bell, a splash ring extending from the top of the bell downward around said tube, there being a gas port at the upper portion of said splash ring, and means compelling the gas to pass circuitously from said port to the upper end of said outlet tube.

7. A gas generator as set forth in claim 1, in which the bell has a gas tube extending downward into the sealing liquid.

8. A gas generator as set forth in claim 1, in which the bell has a gas tube extending downward into the sealing liquid and then turnedl upward.

9. A gas generator as set forth in claim 1, in which the bell has a gas tube extending downward into the sealing liquid and then turned up- -ward, the upturned limb of said tube being attened.

10. In a gas generator, the combination with a tank body, and a hopper detachably connected with said body, of a valve movable toward and from the mouth of the hopper to vary the size of the feed passage. a support for said valve connected to the hopper, a regulator device responsive to the pressure of the generated gas, said regulator device being connected with said body so that. it is not disturbed when the hopper is removed, mechanism controlled by sad regulator device for raising said valve, the valve being free-7 ly separable from the valve-lifting mechanism, a gas-operated motor device connected with the body, and mechanism operable by said motor device to produce agitation at the mouth of the hopper, the hopper and parts carried thereby being also freely separable from the latter mechanism.

11. In a gas generator having a hopper and a generating chamber, the combination of a valve movable toward and from the mouth of the hopper to vary the size of the feed passage, a regulator device for controlling said valve in response to pressure of the generated gas, a gas-operated motor device, a gas limb which extends laterally from the generating chamber and to which both of said devices are connected, motion-transmitting means including a valve-lifting leverbetween the regulator device and the valve, and other motion-transmitting means operable by the motory device to produce agitation at the mouth of the hopper, said other motion-transmitting means including a link extending lengthwise of said valve-lifting lever.

12. In a gas generator having a hopper and a generating chamber, the combination of a valve movable toward andA from the mouth of the hopper to vary the size of the feed passage, a gas limb extending laterally from the generating chamber, a pressure-responsive device on said limb, a gas-operated motor device on said limb, mechanism controlled by the former device to vary the device on said limb, a gas off-take pipe, a motor device connected between said limb Aand off-take pipe and actuated by the outowing gas, and connections from both said devices extending through said limb to said valve to regulate the height of the valve and to agitate it.

14. In a gas generator having a hopper and a generating chamber, a gas limb extending from the generating chamber, an oir-take pipe through i which gas flows from the generator, a motor device connected between the gas limb and the offtake pipe and operated by the gas flowing to said off-take pipe, mechanical connections operated by said motor device to produce agitation at the mouth of the hopper, a pressure-responsive device applied to the upper side of said limb, and feed-regulating mechanism controlled by the latter device, said mechanism and mechanical connections extending through said gas limb.

l5. In a gas generator, a feed valve, a spring capable of closing said valve, a diaphragm, mechanism'controlled by said diaphragm to regulate said valve, a regulating spring bearing on said diaphragm in opposition and superior to the effect of the closing spring, an adjusting screw accessible from outside of the generator and actlng on said regulating spring, and manually operable means for repressing said regulating spring so that the valve is held closed by the closing spring without disturbing said adjusting screw.

16. In an acetylene generator, a carbide hopper, a collar spaced from and extending downward below the mouth of the hopper, a spider supported in said collar and having a central hub, a valve having a stem guided in said hub, a pressure-responsive device, and mechanism controlled by said device and coacting with the lower end of said stem.

17. In an acetylene generator, a`carbide hopper, a collar spaced from and extending downward below the mouth of the hopper, a spider supported in said collar and having a lcentral hub,

a valve having a stem guided in said hub, a presf end of said stem, the arms of said spider presenting beveled top edges.

19. In an acetylene generator, a carbide hopper, a collar spaced from and extending downward Vbelow the mouth of the hopper, a spider supported in said collar and having a central hub, a valve having a stem guided in said hub, a pressure-responsive device, and mechanism controlled by said device and coacting with the lower end of said stem, the arms of said spider extendfulcrum and the compensating spring, and holding the lever against said fulcrum.

21. In an acetylene generator, the combination o! an agitated carbide feed element, a linkage through which said element is agitated, a liquidseal chamber, an agitator bell suspended in said chamber from a. part of said linkage, a gas ofi'- take from the interior of said bell. and a spring tending to litt the bell.

, l GEORGE M. DEMING. 

